Project aims to boost AI skills across the South West tourism and hospitality industry

The South West Visitor Economy AI Skills Accelerator is being led by the Plymouth Business School with funding from Innovate UK
A drone shot showing Tinside Lido and Plymouth Hoe and views across Plymouth city centre taken during the summer of 2026

Project aims to boost AI skills across the South West tourism and hospitality industry

The South West Visitor Economy AI Skills Accelerator is being led by the Plymouth Business School with funding from Innovate UK
A major project has been launched to enable the South West’s tourism and hospitality industry to develop practical ways to benefit from advances in artificial intelligence (AI).
The South West Visitor Economy AI Skills Accelerator will enable students and graduates from the University of Plymouth and people working in the local tourism sector to collaborate with companies on a range of exciting initiatives.
The aim will be to provide hands-on experience of some of the challenges facing the sector, while offering companies customer insights, targeted marketing, visitor-data analysis and improvements to the visitor experience that they can use to boost their businesses.
Led by academics from the University of Plymouth’s Plymouth Business School, the £275,000 project is being supported through the TechLocal AI Professional Degree and Traineeship Accelerator competition delivered by Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation.
It is being developed in collaboration with partners spanning the tourism, marketing, AI and business development sectors, including: the Institute of Travel and Tourism (ITT); Destination Plymouth; Women in Travel CIC; Building Brands; Brand Biscuit (AI Hub South West); 
Together, they will create an AI Professional Practice pathway that will be available across programmes offered in the Plymouth Business School and open to working professionals, and through which participants will undertake structured employer-linked activities including paid graduate traineeships, internships, live AI consultancy projects and applied work-experience modules.
The project will also develop an AI-enabled Visitor Journey Transformation Framework that will connect learning to practical challenges across the customer journey, from initial inspiration and booking to on-site service and repeat visits.
Dr Rong Huang, Programme Lead in Tourism and Hospitality Management at Plymouth Business School, is the project’s Principal Investigator. The project team also includes Dr Ben Siu (Associate Professor in Marketing), Dr John White (Associate Professor in Marketing), and Dr Xiazhao Chen (Programme Lead of the BSc (Hons) Marketing degree)

Tourism and hospitality is a crucial part of the South West’s economy.

The businesses we speak to can see what AI might do for them, but many simply don’t have the people or the time to put it into practice. This project brings our students, our industry partners and regional employers together so that learning happens on live business challenges, and businesses see real results. It also reflects something I care deeply about: treating students as researchers and partners in creating new knowledge, not just as recipients of it.

Rong HuangDr Rong Huang
Programme Lead in Tourism and Hospitality Management

This Innovate UK award is an important recognition of the University of Plymouth’s commitment to working with industry to address real-world challenges.

By bringing together expertise in artificial intelligence, marketing, tourism and hospitality, we are creating opportunities for students and graduates to develop the skills employers need, while helping businesses across the South West embrace new technologies. The project demonstrates how Plymouth Business School can connect education, innovation and industry partnerships to support regional economic growth and create lasting benefits for our communities.

Chris BennewithProfessor Chris Bennewith
Interim Deputy Vice-Chancellor Education & Student Experience & Executive Dean

Beaches, St Ives, Carbis Bay, Cornwall.

An initiative built on partnership

The project directly responds to priorities identified in the Local Skills Improvement Plans for Devon and Somerset, and Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.
The consortium’s complementary networks and expertise will support employer engagement, curriculum co-design, live business briefs, mentoring and the wider sharing of project learning, with the partners’ perspectives reflecting the range of skills and opportunities the accelerator aims to develop.

AI is changing how we work in travel and tourism, and we need to make sure people have the skills and confidence to use it well. At ITT, bringing industry and education closer together is at the heart of what we do, so we’re delighted to work with Plymouth Business School and its partners on this project. Through our network, we’ll bring employers’ views and experience into what is taught and help create practical learning opportunities. We’ll also share what we learn across the UK, helping both current and future tourism professionals use AI responsibly and effectively.

Claire Steiner
Chair of the Education and Training Committee at the Institute of Travel and Tourism

The team at Destination Plymouth is delighted to be part of this exciting and innovative project. AI is increasingly becoming something that we all use in everyday life. We are proud to be working with the partners in this project to be able to support our businesses in the tourism, hospitality, visitor and retail sector to enable them to learn how to use AI efficiently and effectively to create opportunities and help growth and profitability.

Amanda Lumley
CEO of Destination Plymouth

We are very pleased to work with the University of Plymouth and its partners on this project. We know that when women gain digital and AI skills they gain the power to grow businesses, tell their stories, and ultimately drive a more equitable future for the travel and tourism sector.

Alessandra LoTufo Alonso
Managing Director of Women in Travel CIC

We’re really excited to be part of this project and to be working alongside the University of Plymouth and the other partners involved. Through Building Brands, we work with marketers, agencies and businesses right across the South West, and we’re seeing first-hand how AI is changing the way organisations operate, particularly in marketing and customer engagement. However, from our discussions with many smaller businesses, a lot of them are still trying to understand where to start and how to make the most of the opportunities it presents. For us, it’s about making AI more accessible, practical and genuinely valuable to businesses across the South West.

Dave Briggs
Founder of Building Brands

This is a really exciting opportunity for our AI Hub South West. We are delighted to be involved in such a groundbreaking AI project for Plymouth and the wider region. The AI Hub South West already works closely with the University of Plymouth and we are keen to help upskill students in AI not only in our own city but across the South West.

Christina Wilkins and Matt Fleming
Brand Biscuit/AI Hub South West

How to get involved in the project

Any tourism, hospitality and marketing businesses interested in hosting a traineeship or internship, or proposing an AI challenge for a live consultancy project, can contact Project Manager Mrs Kim Turner at kim.turner@plymouth.ac.uk.
Graduates and working professionals interested in developing their AI skills are invited to register their interest in the proposed AI Professional Practice pathways through the University's online expression-of-interest form.
 
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